Breakthrough (10 page)

“Then what is it?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” Clay said, as Alison dropped it back into his hand.  “But if it’s not a camera, why would he be holding it up to the window?” He looked at Alison.  “I was assuming he was trying to steal your information.”

She shrugged.  “I suppose it’s possible, but researchers usually tend to be more collaborative than competitive.  I mean don’t get me wrong, there are definitely people who try to keep their research quiet, but that’s usually in things like physics or electronics, something with commercial potential.  When we keep things quiet, it’s just because we want to get a big jump on everyone else, not for material gain.  Let’s put it this way, not a lot of people get rich over marine biology.  Sure we can write a book and get tenure at some expensive college, but it’s not the kind of lifestyle that would cause you to keep things secret in hopes of becoming rich.”

“Besides,” she continued, “the other groups working with dolphins have taken much different approaches.  More manual and not as much technology involved.  In fact two groups are not trying to communicate as much as measure kinetic and energy influences.”

“So not mu
ch reason to be after your data,” Clay finished.

“Not really.”

Clay nodded, accepting her explanation.  “You know there is something else I need to tell you.”

“Okay.”

Clay took a deep breath.  “I don’t think I did you any favors upstairs when I asked if you had a security clearance.”

“I thought you were joking,” she smiled.  “Why would we have a security clearance?”

“Well I suppose I was but after talking to Captain Emerson and my superiors, it was agreed that whatever we experienced back there has to be treated as a security matter.”

“What does that mean?”

“Well,” he continued.  “It means that everyone on board, including your team, will need to be debriefed when we get back to port.”

“Okay.
”  Alison seemed unconcerned.  “How long does that take?”

“It’s hard to say, maybe a couple hours each.”  Clay said.  “Remember, this is the military, we tend to be obsessive about things.”

Alison was surprised.  “A couple of hours
each
?!”

“I’m afraid so.”

“Well that’s not going to work.  What are we going to do with Dirk and Sally?  We just got them back into the tanks.  We can’t keep them in there overnight while you guys are asking us questions under a bright light.”

“Bright light?”

“Well I don’t know how you do it!” she exclaimed.

“Relax, they’ve agreed to let you get the dolphins home before they put the giant light on you.  They will have to escort you back though.”

“What do you mean
agreed
?”

“It took a little convincing,” he admitted.

“From who, you?”

“The important thing is that you will have time to get Dirk and Sally settled first.”

“Thank you.”  Alison said with genuine sincerity.  He was not turning out anything like she assumed. 

“Don’t thank me yet.  The debriefing can be extensive.”

Alison nodded and looked around the small room.  She watched Doctor Kanna clip some x-rays up to a screen and turn the light on.  He stepped back with his hand on his chin studying them.

“I guess we’d better start getting things packed up,” she said.  “Are you heading back upstairs?”

Clay shook his head. “Not yet.  I have some questions for the doctor.”  He pulled the silver object back out of his pocket.  “And I think I might borrow his x-ray machine.”

“Okay,
” Alison said.  She paused and then quickly held out her hand.  “It was nice working with you.”

Clay smiled and shook it again.  “The pleasure was mine.”

With that, Alison turned and left the room, closing the door behind her.

Doctor Kanna was still looking at the x-rays when Clay entered.  About the size of a large clinic, the room was filled with stainless steel instruments and furniture.  A small bookshelf on the far wall was filled with a number of medical journals and textbooks.  Kanna looked at him momentarily and then back to the display.

“Dr. Kanna.” He said quietly.

“Hello John.”

“Any changes?”  Clay asked.

“Yes, but not for the better.  His condition is deteriorating quickly.  I hope the helicopter gets here soon.  I’m worried there may not be enough time,” he motioned around the room, “and I don’t have the equipment to do much here.” 

Clay nodded.  There were only a few wires on the patient monitoring his heart rate and blood pressure.  Both of which looked unusually low, even with what little he knew about medicine.

“It’s strange though,” Kanna went on, “the worst of it is the blow he took to the head, and I think the brain is swelling.  But the rest of him appears relatively undamaged, yet his respiration, blood pressure, and most everything else is depressed.  Even his heart beat looks to be irregular.  Very odd and a little alarming.”

Clay took a closer look at the man.  “
Could it all be a result of the brain trauma?”

Kanna shrugged.  “It’s possible. 
He also looks like he’s had some plastic surgery, which may indicate other health problems.  We’ve got to get him to a trauma center where they can find out more.”  He looked at the x-rays closer.  “This is also weird.”

“What’s that?”  Clay stepped around the table and closer to the display which had over a dozen pictures on it.

Kanna pointed to one on the left.  “He’s missing a large area of bone around the right side of his rib cage.”  He pointed to another. “And here he has a strange shape to his femurs.  He may have a birth defect or some kind of deficiency.  I wonder if it’s given him a weaker bone structure which might explain why his injury is as severe as it-”

The doctor was interrupted by a piercing alarm.  The monitor showed the man’s heart beat slowing
dramatically.  A moment later a second alarm sounded and the graph showed the blood pressure dropping.  Kanna quickly checked the monitor and the sensors strapped to the patient’s chest and arm.  “We’re losing him!  Where is that damn chopper!”

Suddenly the monitor’s display became a solid green and went black with a loud pop.  Overhead the fluorescent lights burst and the room went dark with only small rays of sunlight seeping in around the window blinds.  A strange blue sheen
passed over the room’s stainless steel table and shelves, and the air became warm.  Behind Clay, a small white circle appeared in the middle of the room and slowly grew in size.  As it reached a circumference of almost two feet the ring began to stretch vertically into an oval.  The room began to glow.  Clay and Kanna whipped around in time to see the oval reach full length and touch the floor. 

The pitch black center of the oval suddenly became a blinding white light, forcing Clay and Kanna to shield their eyes.  After a few moments, the light subsided to a soft glow and turned dark.  The table holding the patient began to vibrate and some of Kanna’s tools rattled to the side and fell off on to the floor.  The patient’s table slowly started to
slide toward the light.  Kanna instinctively grabbed the table trying to stop the slide but was pulled forward along with the table.  It was not until one of the legs stopped against a lip in the floor that it stopped.  The pull continued causing the table to shake harder but the leg remained stuck.  Kanna let go of the table and grabbed the unconscious patient as the shaking caused his body to vibrate toward the edge.  In the next instant the shaking stopped and everything fell silent.  After several seconds, the stunned doctor opened his eyes wide as a figure appeared and stepped out from the large oval.  He was dressed in light clothing and looked only briefly at the doctor as he gently lifted the end of the table over the lip and began pulling it toward the light himself.  He stopped only when he heard the loud slide action of John Clay’s semi-automatic pistol being chambered.

The figure turned around to find Clay’s gun just inches from his head.  “What in the
hell
did you just do?” Clay said.

The man
did not move.  Instead he looked down at the patient still on the table.  He was no longer breathing.

There was not the slightest waver in Clay’s gun as his finger moved onto the trigger.  “Who are you?”  He motioned to the light.  “And how did you do that?!”

The man remained silent.  He looked at the light and then back at the patient as if deciding something.  When he spoke it seemed reluctant.  “Please, he is dying.”

Clay momentarily glanced down at the unconscious figure on the table and back to the person before him.  “Answer my questions.”

“There is no time.  I have only minutes to save him.”

Clay brought his other hand up and wrapped it around the bottom of the gun strengthening his grip.  “Who
are
you?”

The man before Clay looked at the light again emanating from the middle of the room.  “Let me save him and I will answer your questions.”

Clay shook his head slowly.

“Please.  Let me save him and I will stay.”

Clay hesitated squinting at him.

“Please.  I must save him!” h
e pleaded. His voice was beginning to sound desperate.   “You have nothing to gain by keeping him here.  He will die and you will still only have me.”

After a long moment
, Clay agreed.  “Okay, but if you try to leave I’ll end it for both of you.”

The man nodded.
He lifted the table slightly freeing the leg, then very slowly took a step back and out of the way of the table, which continued sliding toward the light unassisted.  Clay watched the man on the other side of the table who in turn watched the table until it disappeared into the soft glow.  He continued watching until the light finally blinked out and disappeared.

Clay turned his head so he could see the doctor from the corner of his eye.  “Doc.”  Kanna did not respond.  He just stared, stunned at the man in front of Clay. 

“Doc!” Clay shouted, shaking Kanna out of his daze.  “Call the bridge.  Get some backup down here now!”

The doctor jumped for the phone and picked it up.

“Tell them to come armed.”

Kanna nodded.  As he spoke into the phone, Clay examined the man in front of him.

“So who are you?” Clay asked again.

The man stood motionless staring at Clay.  The gun did not appear to frighten him at all.  Finally
, he answered.  “My name is Palin.”

“Where are you from?” Clay asked. 

The man slowly looked around the room.  “Not far.”

Clay squinted.  “I’m going to need some better answers than this.”

The man called Palin looked back at Clay.  “I’ll answer what you ask.  That was our agreement.”

No sooner had Kanna replaced the receiver that several running feet could be heard on the loud catwalk above.  Clay motioned behind Palin.  “Back up against that wall and keep your hands in front of you.”

Palin complied, slowly stepping back until his back brushed the wall.  Moments later, Harris and Tay burst into the room behind Clay with guns drawn. 

“What happened?” asked Harris.

Clay did not take his eyes off of Palin.  “That’s a good question.  Let’s start by having you handcuff Mr. Copperfield here.”

19

Captain Emerson approached Alison and her team who were in the process of dismantling their computer equipment.

“Ms. Shaw,” he started, then looked at Chris and Lee.  “Gentlemen.  We have a change of plans.”

Alison stood up.  “What do you mean?”

“We need to offload you and the other passengers from this ship immediately.”

They were confused.  “What?”

“For your safety and the sake of national security I need to get you off the Pathfinder,” Emerson said.

“I don’t understand.  You were taking us back to Miami.  Did something happen?”

Emerson shook his head. “I can only say that there has been a security incident.  Believe me when I tell you that this is for your protection.”

“An incident, when?”  She scanned the bridge and did not find who she was looking for.  “Did something happen to Mr. Clay?”

“John Clay is fine,” he assured them.  “There will be a Coast Guard cutter arriving in a few minutes.  It is important that you and your team be ready to transfer as quickly as possible.”

“Wait,” she said.  “What about
Dirk and Sally?”

“I’m afraid the Coast Guard ship is not equipped to accept them.  They will have to remain with us until we have the situation addressed and can return them to you.  I’m sorry.  Rest assured that delivering them will be our top priority and they will be well cared for until we bring them to you.”

Alison would have normally protested, but she suspected something dangerous had just occurred.  She decided this was not a good time to pick a fight with the Navy.

She looked at Emerson.  “I have your word, Captain?”

“You most certainly do.  Do you need any assistance?”

She looked at Lee who shook his head.  “No, we’ll be ready.”

The Coast Guard cutter was half the length and much faster judging by its sudden arrival making a half circle around the Pathfinder.  It slowed and finished its circle coming up alongside.  Both ships lowered their giant tenders to protect their hulls from mutual damage as they pulled themselves together and placed a large walkway from one railing to the other.

All of the reporters were lined up with their belongings.  Once they were motioned forward, they began stepping across one at a time.  Alison, Chris, and Lee paid a quick visit to Dirk and Sally and then made their way back toward the bow.  By the time they arrived, the last of the passengers were crossing over with the help of two sailors on either side. 

Alison stepped up onto the walkway and turned back.  Clay was nowhere to be seen, nor could she see the dolphin’s tank
, far back on the stern.  She took a deep breath and walked quickly across.  Chris and Lee followed.

When all passengers were seated and counted, the plank was quickly removed, the engines roared to life, and the cutter pulled away.  As they charged forward, the Pathfinder slowly shrank in the
distance behind them.  Alison leaned forward and caught sight of the helicopters approaching the Pathfinder’s bow, one large helicopter accompanied by two smaller Apache attack choppers on each side.